Sick betta, please advise

[iroze]

Hi all,
I have a male betta living by himself in a 5 Gal tank. He has plants, a filter, I keep it clean and at the right temp and have done so for over a year. The other day - suddenly - I noticed, and I don't know how to explain it other than his stomach exploded. It's definitely swollen and white, and something very similar to guts is protruding from below.
He hasn't got fin rot or fungus and is swimming and eating, but this is just so horrifying to watch.

I started putting some pimafix in his water, I fed him a bit of a pea yesterday. Is there anything else I should be doing?

Here is a photo. Apologies for it being of poor quality.

 

[thing fish]

hey, im sorry to see that you're having trouble. i am not exactly sure what your fish is suffering from; it is nothing that i have seen before in any of my tanks. i just wanted to throw in a few comments, bump this thread, and wait for replies from others who know more.

like i said, i have never dealt with anything like this, but it sortve looks fungal to me...though it is difficult to see clearly. i am curious; have you made any drastic changes recently? major cleanups? changed out filter media? anything at all? also, have you tested your water parameters? if so, what did the readings show?

again, sorry i cannot give you great advice on this...perhaps someone with firsthand knowledge will offer some better help.

good luck

 

[iroze]

Hi there,
thanks so much for responsing. Appreciate the bump as I haven't gotten many answers on other sites either.
The betta is in the quarantine tank now because the medicine is not good for the plants he normally lives with. Once every couple of months I do a major water change to clean out the algae but that wasn't any time recently. The water was fine. I keep a pretty clean tank. The temp was steady. No changes to the filter media. This was as sudden as sudden gets.
He pooped a little after the pea so that's good I guess.
The only thing I can think of is that my son (to whom the fish officially belongs) might have been feeding him the same food over and over instead of varying the choices. But I don't know if that would make him explode

 

[thing fish]

if you removed him from the tank, there is no source of ammonia to keep your beneficial bacteria alive. also, just because the water looks clean, does not mean it is ideal. do you have a liquid test kit?

if youre only changing the water every couple of months, i suspect that you may have water quality issues. i would up the water changes. with a 5 gallon tank, it really isnt a big deal. that is likely the cause of what you are seeing, although i am sorry i cannot give specifics on how to treat the problem. treating the root cause is always a good idea.

 

[iroze]

I tossed the filter media now because it came in contact with medication. Will be cycling a fresh batch with Tetra Safe Start when and if he gets better.
Every couple of months I do a 100% water change. I do 60% water changes every single weekend. When I said I kept a clean tank I didn't mean the water was clear, I meant the parameters are good.

 

[thing fish]

ah, well that is different and much better. sorry im not able to identify exactly what the issue is....hopefully someone out there will jump in with some better advice.

 

[Lemon_Lass]

Looks like fungus to me but can only see so much from my phone. Continue to quarantine, consider adding aquarium salt to his regular tank.